This past weekend, I read G. Neri‘s Chess Rumble, illustrated by Joshua Watson. Got my copy at the newspaper where I work. Couple times a year, they hold a huge book sale with proceeds going to charity. The books are sent from publishers hoping for media exposure. I made it to the sale three hours [ Read the full article… ]
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Stocking A Teen’s Bookshelf
YA and teens go well together – they’re both in awkward stages. Teens (and for the sake of conversation let’s include tweens ages 10-12) are newly indepenent thinkers, yet not ready to fly solo. Some blame the underlying tension and conflict between teens and parents on a generation gap – but I think it has more to [ Read the full article… ]
What’s on Your Christmas List?
Last week I discovered a quote from Lenore Hershey, the former editor of McCall’s and Ladies Home Journal magazines, where she in her sage wisdom advised us, “Do give books – religious or otherwise – for Christmas. They’re never fattening, seldom sinful, and permanently personal.” Now of course, I agree with her words, as both [ Read the full article… ]
Letters to a Young Brother
Recently I picked up a copy of Hill Harper’s Letters to a Young Brother. I purchased it only because my wife chased me through the book store, repeating, like a broken record, “But I think you’ll like this book. But I think you’ll like this book. But I think…” I didn’t want a celebrity book. [ Read the full article… ]
Can you hear us now? We sure can!
To everyone out there that send an email or nominated an author or just posted a comment — THANK YOU! Quite frankly, we’ve gotten more suggestions than I ever imagined we’d get. And what a great mix is it — pbs and middle grade, YA and chapter books, historical fiction and sci-fi, serious books and [ Read the full article… ]
Through A Child’s Eyes
When my daughter was born, I experienced my greatest blessing. I received another gift as I started reading to her. Through her eyes, I got a chance to relive the wonder of discovering toes, the many hues of skin, the magic of music. As we listened to the cadence of words and soaked in the sweetness of pictures created [ Read the full article… ]
A Measure of Success
There are two measures of success. You know you’ve made it when Saturday Night Live parodies you in a skit or when dissenting opinions go out over the blogosphere. The Brown Bookshelf has “arrived”! No, neither Beyonce or Justin Timberlake has sang a hilarious ode to our venture, but there has been quite a bit of [ Read the full article… ]
Booked for the Holidays
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Around us we see decorations, holiday sales, and traditional holiday food and drink like egg nog and candy canes. Turn on the radio and you can hear Donny Hathaway croon “This Christmas” as well as Michael Jackson and his brothers let us know that “Santa Claus is [ Read the full article… ]